Some Common Types of Mental Illness

Depression is a mood disorder characterized by a lasting feeling of extreme sadness or helplessness. It is estimated that about 10 million American adults experience depression each year, but that only one-third of these seek treatment. Depression is the most successfully treated of all the major mental illnesses.

Symptoms of depression include:

• Loss of pleasure or interest in usual activities, including work or sex
• Withdrawal from friends and loved ones
• Sleeping a great deal or very little
• Persistent feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt, anxiety
• Frequent thoughts about death and suicide, or suicide attempts
• Unexplained physical pains or problems

A person with suicidal thoughts should seek help immediately.

Bi-Polar Disorder is also a mood disorder. Individuals with bi-polar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness, experience extreme mood swings that may be rapid fluctuations between "high" and "low" moods or may be longer lasting periods (over weeks or even months of a depressed or manic state.)

Symptoms of bi-polar disorder include:

• Increased energy
• Decreased need for sleep
• Increased risk-taking
• Increased talking and physical, social, and sexual activity
• Racing and disconnected thoughts
• Aggressive reaction to frustration
• Unrealistic beliefs in own abilities
• Feelings of euphoria or extreme irritability

Someone experiencing some or all of the symptoms of mania, or periods of mania and depression, should seek treatment if the symptoms persist more than 2 weeks, if they are causing impairment in the person's usual functioning.

Schizophrenia is a group of disorders characterized by unusual thoughts, emotions, and behavior. As with depression and mania, schizophrenia is the result of a biochemical imbalance in the person's brain. Please note that schizophrenia is not the same as "split" or multiple personality.

Symptoms of schizophrenia include:

• Difficulty getting along with others
• Disconnected, repetitive, or rhyming speech
• Possible difficulties with daily self-care (showering, dressing appropriately, etc.)
• Obsessions and extreme anxiety
• Hallucinations (hearing voices, seeing visions, tasting or smelling or feeling things that aren't real)
• Delusions (fixed, false beliefs) Withdrawal from friends and family, social situations
• Abuse of alcohol or drugs

Schizophrenia often manifests itself in people between the ages of 17 and 25, although it can occur in childhood, or in persons in their 30's. Acute episodes of symptoms (psychosis) can appear to happen "out of nowhere," but actually, in most cases, come about after a period of increasing symptoms that increasingly impair the individual's ability to cope with common reality.

Anxiety Disorders are characterized by severe and lasting fear or anxiety.

Symptoms of anxiety disorder include:

• General Anxiety - tension, restlessness, or irritability lasting a month or more
• Panic Attacks - episodes of sudden fear or terror that cause dizziness, sweating, shortness of breath, heart flutters
• Phobias - strong fears about an object, place, or situation (such as, fear of heights)
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders - thoughts, images, or actions that are constantly repeated

Severe and persistent anxiety or fear can be very disruptive of a person's usual functioning. However, there are various forms of successful treatment used to help those with anxiety disorders.